Lennox settles “white coil” class action
29th October 2014
USA: Lennox has reached an out-of-court settlement in a class action in Florida over an alleged defective coil in certain of its air conditioning and heat pump units.
The lawsuit claimed a particular condenser coil manufactured between 2005 and 2007 and used in certain of Lennox’s air conditioning and heat pump systems was defective because it prematurely corroded and turned white. Lennox denies these claims and maintains it did nothing wrong. The settlement resolves these claims.
Under the settlement, US consumers who have potentially affected systems are promised a free replacement coil if they have not yet replaced it or had repairs carried out or reimbursement of costs if they have already had their coil replaced. Consumers can get reimbursed for out-of-pocket repairs up to $300 without itemised proof, and perhaps more, depending on the level of documentation of replacement costs they can provide.
Consumers are eligible for benefits only if they live in the United States and own residential property in Florida that has installed an eligible Lennox-brand air conditioning or heat pump system that may have or may have had a white coil. Eligible systems must have both a model number and a serial number within the range of serial numbers of included systems. A list of included systems is available at www.LennoxCoilSettlement.com.
The lawsuit claimed that the “white coil” corrosion affected coils made using aluminum that was, unbeknownst to Lennox, wrongly coated with polyester instead of epoxy or acrylic. The lawsuit claimed that this wrong coating can cause the coils to corrode and fail prematurely. Lennox denied the claims and maintained it did nothing wrong, particularly in light of the repair programme it embarked on when it discovered its supplier provided aluminum with the wrong coating.
